Azets targets international expansion after completing seventh deal in six months
Azets, the SME-focused international accounting, tax, audit, advisory and business services group, is ramping up its acquisitive growth strategy after completing its seventh acquisition in six months, with more plans to bolster capability as it accelerates expansion in the UK, Europe, and North America.
Azets, which currently employs over 7,000 people in the UK and Nordics, last month announced the acquisition of leading independent accounting and advisory firm Tait Walker. The deal strengthens Azets’ core accounting, assurance, tax, and advisory business in the region and notably expands its wealth management offering across the North of England, as well as adding to a growing data and analytics team.
This follows the recent acquisitions of Garbutt & Elliott and Inspire in the UK, Karabingruppen in Norway, DanAccount and KMD Perspektiv in Denmark, and Isännöinti Rantamäki in Finland, as Azets continues to reinforce its position as the leading voice for the SME sector, with some 120,000 clients.
Azets’ M&A programme is being led by Group Head of M&A Jeremy Fearnley, who joined Azets at the beginning of 2022 to drive the Group’s strategic agenda through the acquisition of high quality, complementary groups.
Jeremy Fearnley, group head of M&A at Azets, said: “The accounting profession is facing rapid transformation as it evolves to meet the changing needs of clients and regulators, in a world where traditional service models are being disrupted by new technology.
“Quality of service and local client relationships will always remain fundamental to success. However, there is an ever increasing need to respond to the changing environment by investing in digital technology and the upskilling of staff to improve service and reduce cost of delivery for clients, whilst ensuring compliance in the face of increasingly burdensome regulation.
“We represent a strong partner for high quality, like-minded firms with a desire to respond to these changes by giving their people the best platform to deliver future success for themselves and for their clients.
“Each of our recent acquisitions add to our unique market proposition as a leading advisor and provider of professional and outsourced services to SMEs.
“We are actively targeting businesses which share our vision for talent development, exceptional service provision, a culture of innovation, and which enjoy working with interesting clients.”
Chris Horne, group CEO at Azets, added: “We have made significant investments over the past 12 months in digitalisation, people, and strategic M&A to support the delivery of our long-term plan to be the SME advisor of choice across our markets.
“Our goal is to double revenues in the next five years and acquisitive growth represents a key part of those plans. A significant driver fuelling this growth is our strong belief that the SME market is currently underserved.
“We are committed to identifying M&A targets that are a good cultural fit and can add even greater value to our business and our SME clients.”
